SOUTH KINGSTOWN HIGH SCHOOL ENGLISH DEPARTMENT
REVIEWS OF 2015 SUMMER READING SELECTIONS
GRADE 11
The Book of Lost Things by John Connolly
The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini
Thriller writer Connolly turns from criminal fears to
primal fears in this enchanting novel about a 12-yearold English boy, David, who is thrust into a realm
where eternal stories and fairy tales assume an often
gruesome reality. Books are the magic that speak to
David, whose mother has died at the start of WWII
after a long debilitating illness. ... When a portal to
another world opens in time-honored fashion, David
enters a land of beasts and monsters where he must
undertake a quest if he is to earn his way back out. ...
Despite horrific elements, this tale is never truly
frightening, but is consistently entertaining as David
learns lessons of bravery, loyalty and honor that all of
us should learn
This painful, moving, remarkable debut novel depicts
the childhood, adolescence, and adulthood of a
deeply flawed protagonist. Growing up in Kabul,
Afghanistan, Amir feels unloved by his widowed
father, who seems to care more for Hassan, the son of
their Hazara servant, Ali. Amir and Hassan are close
but not quite friends. On what should have been the
best day of his young life, when he wins a kite-flying
contest and finally some respect from his father, Amir
betrays Hassan and becomes haunted by guilt. Amir
comes to California when the Soviets invade his
country but returns years later to rescue Hassan's
orphaned son from the Taliban and redeem himself.
Hosseini, a physician in the San Francisco area, has a
wonderful gift for developing distinctive characters
and creating a strong sense of place. While far from
polished, his narration offers a profound sincerity. A
sad and violent yet beautiful and unforgettable story;
highly recommended..., especially [for] those with
interests in the American immigrant experience.
Publishers Weekly 28 Aug. 2006, Vol. 253, Issue 34.
Irish crime writer John Connolly’s novel unfolds with
such narrative drive that it can leave a reader
wondering: “What was that all about?” The short
answer? Just about everything to do with growing up.
Every primal theme imaginable, from understanding
sexual orientation to seeing adults’ feet of clay, runs
through this entrancing tale of a 12-year-old boy who
loses his mother and finds a very, very dark fantasy
world where survival requires leaving childhood
behind.
Bethune, Brian. “Something Lost, Something Gained.” Maclean’s 18
Dec. 2006, Vol. 119, Issue 50.
There's no landscape more fantastic than a child's
dreams and nightmares. ... Connolly takes a break
from crime fiction to turn fairy tales on their ear and
drag them into this menacing, and moving, tale of a
12-year-old boy who steps through a hole in his
garden wall into a land stalked by wolves who talk like
men and demons who have an appetite for children.
Connolly brings in such bedtime-story stalwarts as
Snow White, Sleeping Beauty, Hansel and Gretel, and
Little Red Riding Hood. But he takes outrageous,
albeit entertaining, liberties with these characters,
exchanging their virtues for canyon-size failures of
character. As clever as this device is, with all the
attendant dangers and suspense, Connolly grounds it
in the collective memory of childhood and that
foreign field between youth and adulthood.
Kelly, Susan. “In ‘Book of Lost Things,’ Fairy Tales Are Twisted into
Childhood Terrors.” USA Today 21 Dec. 2006, 6d.
Adams, Michael. Library Journal 15 Nov. 2003, Vol. 128, Issue 19,
p114.
Life of Pi by Yann Martel
Named for a swimming pool in Paris — the Piscine
Molitor — “Pi” Patel begins this extraordinary tale as
a teenager in India, where his father is a zoo keeper.
Deciding to immigrate to Canada, his father sells off
most of the zoo animals, electing to bring a few along
with the family on their voyage to their new home.
But after only a few days out at sea, their rickety
vessel encounters a storm. After crew members toss
Pi overboard into one of the lifeboats, the ship
capsizes. Not long after, to his horror, Pi is joined by
Richard Parker, an acquaintance who manages to
hoist himself onto the lifeboat from the roiling sea.
You would think anyone in Pi’s dire straits would
welcome the company, but Richard Parker happens to
be a 450-pound Bengal tiger. It is hard to imagine a
fate more desperate than Pi’s: “I was alone and
orphaned, in the middle of the Pacific, hanging on to
an oar, an adult tiger in front of me, sharks beneath
me, a storm raging about me.” At first Pi plots to kill
Richard Parker. Then he becomes convinced that the
tiger’s survival is absolutely essential to his own. In
this harrowing yet inspiring tale, Martel demonstrates
skills so well honed that the story appears to tell itself
without drawing attention to the writing.
Cone, Edward. Library Journal 15 June 2002, Vol. 127, Issue 11, p95.
Life of Pi uses incredible images to provide readers
with a powerful well-written allegory about life and
religion. Pi is an intriguing lead protagonist, but must
share top billing with his ocean traveling crony, the
fascinating Richard the tiger-hearted. Yann Martel’s
story line is extremely deep yet quite simple, as if
Rudyard Kipling wrote The Old Man and the Sea.
Klausner, Harriet. AllReaders.com. Web. 1 June 2009 <http://www.
allreaders.com/Topics/info_13754.asp?BSID=0>.
Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi
This extraordinary autobiography tells the story of
Satrapi’s early life as a girl in late 1970s and early
1980s Iran. Through her young eyes, the reader sees
the overthrow of the Shah, the Islamic fundamentalist
rise to power, and the war with Iraq. Satrapi was a
religious girl who grew up in a progressive family and
went to a French school; but after the Islamic
revolution, she was forced to wear the veil and ended
up rejecting God. Under increasing threat from Iraqi
bombings and an oppressive government, Satrapi and
her family still managed to enjoy forbidden parties,
games, and music (such as Iron Maiden). This fueled
Satrapi's own adolescent rebellion, which eventually
got her into trouble. Satrapi's simple, cartoony, even
cute black-and-white art allows for easy identification
with the characters and expertly reflects their varying
emotions. When first published in France, where
Satrapi now lives, this book won several European
comics awards--and it's a prime candidate for
American award nominations as well. A remarkable,
revealing, and sometimes startling account, this is
sure to be one of the most important graphic novels
of the year. Highly recommended for older teens and
adults.
Raiteri, Steve, Library Journal, 03630277, 5/1/2003, Vol. 128, Issue 8.
Persepolis is Marjane Satrap’s stunning comic-book
memoir of an Iranian childhood dramatically shaped
by the Islamic revolution. ... Satrapi's simple blackand-white drawings are pure and powerful. Her
chosen point of view keeps the story accessible
throughout: all events, even very scary ones, are
presented through the eyes of a child — bright,
spunky, and naive.
... Because the illustrations have an emotional
directness, because the book is often funny, and
because the story is told from a child's point of view,
you may feel tempted to give this book to smaller
children. Don't. I wouldn't give it to anyone under
thirteen. There is much that is disturbing (rape and
torture) in it. Still, adolescent rebellion in Iran looks a
lot like the local variety, and so does family love. You
cannot get through Persepolis without asking, What
would I do if my world turned upside down? If ever
there was a book to promote empathy and a sense of
connection, this is it. As Satrapi herself has said: "If
people are given a chance to experience life in more
than one country, they will hate a little less .... That is
why I wanted people in other countries to read
Persepolis, to see that I grew up just like other
children."
Donnelly, Daria. “Studies Abroad.” Commonweal 23 April 2004, Vol.
131, Issue 8. Web. 7 June 2009.
Siddhartha by Herman Hesse
Set in India, it is the story of a young Brahmin’s search
for ultimate reality, reflecting Hesse's interest in
Oriental mysticism. Siddhartha's search, which takes
him through both profligacy and asceticism,
reinforces the idea that wisdom cannot be taught; it
must come from one's own inner struggle. The story
contains parallels to Buddha’s life, but it is not a
fictionalized life of Buddha; Hesse uses the Buddha
parallels instead to give his work a legendary and
symbolic quality.
Benet’s Reader’s Encyclopedia. 1996.
From his childhood, Hesse was interested in the
Orient, and he visited India in 1911. His mother had
been born in that country, and his father was a
missionary there. ... He later wrote of his “deep
veneration of the spirit of the East, which in Indian or
Chinese dress...has become my consolation and
prophecy.” Siddhartha has always been one of
Hesse’s most popular novels, and, not surprisingly, it
has appealed to the East as well as the West. It was
translated into nine Indian dialects and also achieved
great popularity in Japan. In the elegance of its style
and in the simple yet profound philosophy of life it
expresses, it is probably the Western novel which best
captures the spirit of India. Siddhartha represents the
culmination of a long fascination which the Western
literary mind ... felt toward the East.
Aubrey, Bryan. Masterplots II: World Fiction. Salem Press, Inc., 1987.